Publisher of Mein Kampf Sentenced

Source: The Associated Press, December 11th 2000

Publisher of ‘Mein Kampf’ Sentenced

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – The publisher of the first unabridged Czech edition of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was handed a three-year suspended sentence Monday for promoting Nazism, Czech media reported.

Michal Zitko was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine, the news agency CTK said. It said he appealed the verdict.

“Mein Kampf” was published in Czech in 1936 and again in 1993 after the fall of communism. The 1993 edition, which was not a complete translation, included anti-Nazi commentaries by former Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Jiri Hajek.

The edition put out by Zitko in March was the first complete Czech-language edition of “Mein Kampf” without commentaries or disclaimers. The book – 100,000 copies were printed – sold well.

The publication drew immediate protests from the Czech Jewish Community, anti-fascist associations and politicians.

Zitko was charged with promoting Nazism in June and police seized some 300 copies of the book at the distributor’s office the same month